Pulling In a Hurricane
by fangraecus
Summary: Love is almost as deadly as war. Nico/Percy one shot.


Summer was always a favorite for Percy. The camp was most alive then, with the rush of incoming campers to the way the strawberry field's scent danced along the breeze.

He took notice of everything the way only someone who's been eye to eye with death could. Years ago, the canoe lake had just been a feature of the camp, but with all that passed, it was something of a sacred place. He wanted a moment of peace, just to be thankful, before Tyson and Annabeth arrived. He took a seat at the end of a pile of rocks, rolling up his dirty jeans so he could slide his legs into the water. He leaned back against the rock face, falling asleep to the hum of power in his veins.

With a rustle in the bushes he tensed, fully alert, his hand on the lethal ballpoint in his pocket. His mind said he was safe, but his body was riddled with adrenaline. The water lapped at his calves, and he loosened his grip on riptide. He would've returned to his nap if a very red Nico di Angelo didn't emerge from the shaded shoreline.

Nico wasn't watching Percy. Well...that wasn't true. It wasn't on purpose..at first. He'd shadow traveled in early that morning meaning to check in on Percy. He'd made it his personal job throughout the previous months. He hadn't actually visited per say, he just wanted to make sure Percy was okay. Wars can weigh heavy on the mind, didn't he know it. But Nico had a secret, and he didn't know how much time he had left.

So he approached Percy's rock rather awkwardly, his hands shoved in his Jean pockets and his cheeks rivaling the color if the strawberries, which must have looked shocking against his gray complexion. He gave a nod and Percy relaxed against the rock once more, motioning for him to sit.

Nico sat cross legged and brushed his unruly hair to one side, "Sup." He said with faux confidence.

Percy smiled at the younger boy, his teeth blinding in the sun, "So you live."

You can call it that, Nico thought. He simple looked out at the water, "and so do you. Slow couple of months?" He asked, though he'd known the answer.

Percy shifted almost imperceptibly, the line between his eyebrows making him look older. Nico watched this, imagining the nightmares that wrecked Percy's mind at night, the horrors that released screams Nico'd heard a night or two as he walked the shadows near cabin three.

"Yeah, slow. Relaxing." Percy forced his smile back, "and what've you been up to O' Lord of Ghosts?"

Nico coughed, "King"

They laughed a little, and Nico shrugged, "Been around, passing the time."

Percy nodded, a glint of humor in his eyes, "Mythomagic anywhere in there?"

It was a joke, but it rubbed Nico the wrong way. He crossed his arms, "Percy I'm not a kid. I haven't been for years."

Percy changed in a millisecond from teasing to apologetic, "Hey, I know. I'm just kidding, Nico." He rested an arm on Nico's far shoulder, "Best demigod I know."

The boy kept his gaze on the lake, but something inside his cold body warmed him violently, like a lighter clicked on in his gut.

Percy studied Nico, the way his body coiled in defiance to any interaction. The boy, once so small and healthy, with a air of stubborn will, was now lanky and sullen, with a sadness that became his second skin. He tried to reconcile this Nico with the one he'd met that snowy night, but he knew what suffering did to the young and naive, and his heart broke for him, the road he constantly chooses to follow, the path of regret and scarred life.

But then he thinks of the moments he'd seen Nico truly alive, truly here and full of determination, and it draws his eyes to the boy's face in a new, searching way. He pictures a smile of full lips and the absence of frown lines, a rush of blood to his cheeks - proof he's not done.

"Hey," his voice comes out a whisper, "I mean it Nico..you amaze me." And with that he drops his eyes, embarrassed but liberated, hopeful and strangely jittery.

"I.." Nico starts, drawing his hand from his pocket to touch his cheek, "thank you."

He glances at the older, and loses any irritation at the sight of him, his friend, with a mind as chaotic as his own..eyes the exact color and shine of the ocean. Misunderstood, mysterious, deep and longing and powerful - captivating. Nico's eyes dart to the water, "How's Annabeth?"

He wanted to slap himself, but Percy quickly gripped his shoulder, "Busy, everyone is busy. Everybody wants to move on from it all."

"I can't." They said simultaneously.

Percy turned his head, finding himself an inch or less from Nico's face, "I can't." He echoed, rubbing the rock beneath them so forcefully the waves began to grow in front of them.

Nico sucked in a breath, unable to make eye contact. But all he could smell was salt water and mint and the effect was more unsettling than a trip to the Fields of Asphodel. With every inhale, his senses whispered more like Isles of the Blest.

He tugged a strand of his own hair, "Percy.." He said with a voice like gravel, "I-"

Percy nodded, but the voice gave out and he was left to silence and shared air. He swallowed hard and tried to draw back the memory of the girl, the kiss at the bottom of this very lake, but it was lost on the feeling in his stomach, like he was pulling in a hurricane. And in a way, he was.

In a moment of utter insanity, he was closer..closer..closer in an instant, in a fraction of a second, he found himself in the dead center of wrong.

The kiss was so very different than any pleasure he'd known. It wasn't sweet or rich or anchored. Not like Annabeth. Not like standing on Olympus or defeating an enemy. Not like summer.

It was a storm: earth shaking, cold and salty and violently fulfilling. Like pulling in a hurricane. The familiar tug leaped into his chest and the tide rose, lapping at their waists.

Nico waged a war that was won quickly. He knew wrong and he knew mistakes and this was neither. He desperately grabbed the orange shirt next to him, eyes shut tight and thoughts abandoned.

Percy's hand rose to tangle in a mess of dark hair, and he felt something he hadn't experienced. He felt..he felt..

The storm broke with an echo across the lake. They jumped, untangling and waking to the reality of the summer day. Percy touched his lips before the voice rang again, "Percy!" Annabeth.

Nico was gone before Percy could look back. He ran until he collapsed against a tree, hugging his knees. Hot tears stung his face and he let them.

He remembered what it was like to live.

And he knew he could never have it again.

He shouldn't want it.

But he did.

And it hurt more than any pain any soul should have to know.


End file.
